What strategies help to promote the health of individuals?

 Just a quick picture of lovely Brighton, UK to get you started.

This is tutorial 4 in the core 1 series.

This tutorial will take you through Health Promotion and the Ottawa Charter. Again there is power points with and without audio notes.

When studying this tutorial it is important that you keep in mind the 'learn to's' from the syllabus. That is, you should be thinking about and be able to answer questions such as:-

- Whose responsibility is Health Promotion? and what are their roles in promoting good health?

- Which of the 3 basic health promotion strategies (Lifestyle /  behavioural approach, preventative medical approach, public health approach) is most effective and why?

- How has the Ottawa charter contributed to positive health outcomes in relation to tobacco use or road safety?

- Why is important to apply the principles of social justice? (equity, diversity and supportive environments).

The Ottawa Charters 5 action areas for effective health promotion

(Dead Cats Smell Really Bad)

Developing Personal Skills

Educating people, giving them knowledge and skills to be able to improve their own health.

e.g. information on cigarette packets / PDHPE lessons

Creating Supportive Environments

Changing or modifying the physical or social environment people are in to make them healthier or to enable people to be healthier because of them.

e.g. no smoking areas in public space, roundabouts in traffic black spots, school zones

Strengthening Community Action

Bringing the community together to identify and fix their own health issues.

e.g. creating health groups that the community need such as Alcoholics Anonymous, driver reviver stations run by community groups

Reorienting Health Services

Changing the provision of health services from curative to preventative. Pushing time, resources and financial support to this goal.

e.g. Ambulance services giving talks in schools, setting up preventative health research centres

Building Healthy Public Policy

Ensuring all policy, law or funding changes from governments or other agencies have healthiness in mind. Changing laws to make health improvement easier.

e.g. Raising taxes on Alcopops and cigarettes, banning smoking in public places, mandatory hours for L Plate drivers.

It also involves groups lobbying the government to affect changes.

Principles of Social Justice

Social Justice is about everybody getting 'a fair go’

Equity

Is about fairness. Most health inequities in society are avoidable. Applying this social justice principle means spreading resources fairly among the population. (It is not the same as equal resources). E.g. Medicare and PBS (Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme). Medicare makes health treatment and services available for all. PBS subsidises medications to make them affordable.

Diversity

Is about appreciating difference in society e.g. race, gender, language, religion, ethnicity.

Applying this social justice principle to health promotion means that you understand and account for differences in the community that might become barriers to good health. E.g. making health info available in different languages. Having ATSI doctors in ATSI populations.

Supportive environments

Is about enabling people to make healthy decisions and lead a healthy life by making their physical and social environments pro health. All levels of society are responsible for this – families, schools, workplaces, communities, local / state / federal governments.

e.g. sun shades, no smoking areas, roundabouts, school zones, healthy tick campaign, showers in workplace